Chokecherry Jam

After last year's success with chokecherry jam, it's time to make a few more batches of jam. I've selected a couple of chokecherry bushes and the cherries look ripe.



The chokecherry bushes were loaded and the picking was easy. We may have gone overboard on the picking.



Cooking the whole cherries to get the pulp and juice.



The pulp and juice after removing the pits and skins.



The pits and skins that were removed.



Cooking a batch of jam. Mary made 6 batches of jam which made about 20 pints of jam. We had extra pulp and juice, so Mary made some chokecherry vinegar. The  chokecherry vinegar needs some time to sit, I'll post the details when it's complete.



We used the following recipe from Cooks.com to make our jam.

Chokecherry Jam Cooks.com 2 qts. chokecherries 2 c. water 8 c. sugar 1/2 c. liquid Certo Clean and wash chokecherries. Add water and bring to boil. Simmer until cherries pop and flesh comes easily off from pits. Strain through sieve washing chokecherries thoroughly. Rinse leftover pits and skins with water. Add some rinsed water to strained juice to make 1 quart liquid. Combine liquid and sugar. Stir thoroughly bringing juice to boil. Add liquid Certo and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cook at full boil for 60 seconds. Skim off foam. Pour into hot sterilized jars. Seal with melted paraffin wax or cool and freeze. Store in cool dark dry place. Yield: 7 to 8 cups.

Autumn Olive Jam

A couple of years ago we made our first batch of Autumn Olive Jam and it's time to make some more of this tasty  jam. Since the degree of sweetness/tart will vary from bush to bush, be sure to taste test before picking. The late Summer weather was dryer this year and berries tended to be smaller so we needed 9 to 10 cups of berries to get enough seedless pulp for the recipe.



We used the following recipe from "dreams and bones" web blog to make our jam.

Autumn Olive Jam Autumn Olive Jam ~ the Saga 8 cups of ripe autumn olive berries 1 cup of water 3 ½ cups of sugar 1 package of no-sugar-needed Sure Jell Gather 8 cups of ripe autumn olive berries. (Be sure to taste test the berries as you pick. I've found the bright red berries to be more tart than the dull red berries.) Add 1 cup of water to the 8 cups of berries and bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Run the mash through a sieve and you will have about 5 cups of pressed fruit. Measure out 3 ½ cups of sugar. Take ¼ cup of the measured sugar and mix it with the contents of a package of no-sugar-needed Sure Jell. Mix it in with the pressed fruit and bring to a rolling boil. Add the remainder of the sugar to the boiling liquid and return to a rolling boil and let it boil for one minute. Then can according to canning directions and cool. This will make about six 8 oz. jars of well set jam. Nice and tart.

Chokecherry Jam

The weather conditions must have been just right this year for chokecherries because a bush near our barn was loaded with the small fruits. The chokecherry fruit is bitter when eaten directly from the bush but makes a very tasty jam (when sugar is added). I've been watching this bush for the last couple of weeks to determine the "peak of ripeness" for making chokecherry jam. This past weekend was time to pick. Within a half hour, Mary and I had picked enough chokecherries from this one bush for two batches of jam.



We used the following recipe from Cooks.com to make our jam.

Chokecherry Jam Cooks.com 2 qts. chokecherries 2 c. water 8 c. sugar 1/2 c. liquid Certo Clean and wash chokecherries. Add water and bring to boil. Simmer until cherries pop and flesh comes easily off from pits. Strain through sieve washing chokecherries thoroughly. Rinse leftover pits and skins with water. Add some rinsed water to strained juice to make 1 quart liquid. Combine liquid and sugar. Stir thoroughly bringing juice to boil. Add liquid Certo and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cook at full boil for 60 seconds. Skim off foam. Pour into hot sterilized jars. Seal with melted paraffin wax or cool and freeze. Store in cool dark dry place. Yield: 7 to 8 cups.

Autumn Olive Jam

The Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), which is native to eastern Asia, was introduced to the U.S. in 1830 and is now listed as an invasive plant by the USDA. This bush was introduced as an ornamental and used for wildlife habitat but many farmers and landowners know this plant can quickly take over fields in a couple of years.



This year's weather has produced a bumper crop of fruit and I found a recipe for Autumn Olive jam on the "dreams and bones" web blog.



Recipe for Autumn Olive Jam

Gather 8 cups of ripe autumn olive berries. (Be sure to taste test the berries as you pick. I've found the bright red berries to be more tart than the dull red berries.)

Add 1 cup of water to the 8 cups of berries and bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Run the mash through a sieve and you will have about 5 cups of pressed fruit.

Measure out 3 ½ cups of sugar. Take ¼ cup of the measured sugar and mix it with the contents of a package of no-sugar-needed Sure Jell. Mix it in with the pressed fruit and bring to a rolling boil. Add the remainder of the sugar to the boiling liquid and return to a rolling boil and let it boil for one minute.

Then can according to canning directions and cool.

This will make about six 8 oz. jars of well set jam. Nice and tart.